Schopenhauer’s philosophy of music and the possibility of self-transformation through aesthetic understanding of the world

Download

index.pdf

Date

2013

Author

Aktaş, Abdullah Onur

Metadata

Show full item record

Item Usage Stats

256
views

1471
downloads

Schopenhauer sets forth a very striking proposition about philosophy: He claims that what music expresses is also true philosophy. In addition to this genuine idea, Schopenhauer’s philosophy captures individual situation within existence profoundly with comprehensive discussions on the value of life. Putting these remarks together, at the very hearth of this dissertation two concerns prevail: How is music as philosophy possible and if it is possible, are there any practical implications of it? Yet, in order to illuminate these concerns, it is a must to face two basic problems. First problem that has to be faced is related with knowledge. Schopenhauer claims that knowledge of the thing-in-itself is possible and even salvation (Erlösung) is related with this special kind of knowledge. This knowledge frees us from the sufferings of the world and it is revealed through arts and especially by music. In this discussion, I will try to make it clear that Schopenhauer’s usage of thing-in-itself is misleading and we are still dealing with the phenomenal realm. This is of great importance to provide a natural tie between Schopenhauer’s philosophy with music. And the second problem takes its source from Schopenhauer’s idea that the object of philosophy is grasping universal truth per se not guiding people for a better conduct of life. This idea excludes querying a link between musical experiences and transforming manner of actions in Schopenhauer’s system. Yet, I will try to overcome this difficulty claiming that Schopenhauer’s philosophy implicitly prescribes as well.

Subject Keywords

Music and philosophy., Aesthetics., Salvation.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12615938/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/22587

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

The Relationship of art and truth in the philosophy of Heidegger / Kurt, Fikret; Ceylan, Yasin; Department of Philosophy (2014) Revolutionary vision of Heidegger’s philosophy is rooted into the unthinking of the history of philosophy, and his extraordinary endeavor is to unravel whatever remained ignored under the courses of traditional philosophy: The meaning of the question of Being. By interrogating the meaning of the question of Being, Heidegger traces back to reveal the essential horizons related to the origin of thought and truth. Heidegger criticizes the traditional understanding of truth based on correspondence theory of tru...
Understanding of music in the philosophy of Wittgenstein Canlar, Simay; Turan, Şeref Halil; Department of Philosophy (2019) In this thesis, Samkhyakarika, which is one of the most important texts of the Indian Philosophy, is analyzed. Moreover, it is argued that Samkhya Philosophy could be examined within the framework of Hadot’s observations and comments on philosophical tradition of Ancient Greek and Roma. Firstly, the main lines of the philosophical-spiritual tradition of Ancient Greek and Roma are shared with the findings and analysis of Hadot. Hadot thinks that Ancient Greek philosophy provides a way of life to the person. ...
A research on the possibility of distinguishing kitsch and art using philosophical hermeneutics Kaya, Devrim; Ergüden, Akın; Department of Philosophy (2004) This thesis tries to distinguish kitsch and art with the help of philosophical hermeneutics by reading it in the light of Derrida̕s interpretation of Hamlet in Specters of Marx. It defines kitsch as experience in order to go beyond both of the two main approaches, namely, the one that sees kitsch as an object and the one that reduces it to the behaviour of the subject. It tries to show that kitsch is not just an aesthetic problem, but also, a political one.
An Inquiry into the nature of aesthetic theory in its relation to theory of knowledge in Kant’s critical philosophy Özdoyran, Güven; İnam, Ahmet; Department of Philosophy (2013) The main concern of the dissertation is to investigate Kant’s aesthetic theory and its problematic relation to theory of knowledge in his transcendental philosophy. In the Critique of Judgment, Kant constructs his aesthetic theory by arguing that the aesthetic experience is based on a certain type of feeling, namely, the feeling of pleasure, rather than a concept. He grounds such a feeling on the aesthetic judgment of reflection. In spite of its non-conceptual and subjective characteristic, an aesthetic ref...
The Relation between metaphysics and art in Nietzsche’s philosophy Karahan Balya, Gülizar; Parkan, Barış; Department of Philosophy (2015) The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the significance and relative positions of two central themes in Nietzsche’s philosophy, namely metaphysics and art. The perspective of life and the thought of will to power are located at the core of this investigation since they are considered to function as the organising ideas in Nietzsche’s overall philosophy. This perspective and thought require existence to be viewed as groundless and excessive and particularly as a constant flux of becoming that is ...

Citation Formats

A. O. Aktaş, “Schopenhauer’s philosophy of music and the possibility of self-transformation through aesthetic understanding of the world,” Ph.D. - Doctoral Program, Middle East Technical University, 2013.